In his speech to NSAC in February 2006, Office of Science Director
Raymond Orbach stressed the importance of international collaborations
and cooperation in the sciences. Collaborations that cross national
borders enhance scientific efforts in both directions. In the area of
theoretical physics, such collaborations come about naturally and
often lead to exciting discoveries and innovations in science.

One area of programmatic interest to the Office of Nuclear Physics
which has broad international appeal is the study of exotic nuclear
properties. Scientifically, one may pose the following questions: What
binds protons and neutrons into stable nuclei and rare isotopes; what
is the origin of simple patterns in complex nuclei; when and how did
the elements from iron to uranium originate; what causes stars to
explode? These questions form the canvas on which the story of
investigations of nuclei is being drawn and they are being answered in
an international context of experimental and theoretical efforts.

On July 11, David Dean and Witek Nazarewicz attended a celebration of
the opening of the Japan-U.S. Theory Institute for Physics with Exotic
Nuclei (JUSTIPEN) which is located at the RIKEN RIBF Facility in Waco
Japan and is locally supported by RIKEN and the University of
Tokyo. The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, Office of
Nuclear Physics also provides funding to the Institute in the form of
travel awards so that U.S. scientists might participate in Institute
activities and use the Institute to forge new Japan-U.S. scientific
collaborations. Those interested in this opportunity should contact
D.J. Dean (deandj@ornl.gov) or visit the
JUSTIPEN web page.